Religious activist subjected to physical pressure in prison

Muslim Unity Movement (MU) activist Bakhtiyar Babashov, serving a prison sentence in correctional facility No. 17, was subjected to physical pressure. This was reported by his wife, journalist and human rights activist Arzu Abdulla.

On November 30, she held a protest in front of the colony where her husband is serving his sentence.

She demanded an end to the violence against her husband and other prisoners.

“The pretext for attacking Bakhtiyar was that he had a long jacket. I took his jacket to be washed, and he was forced to put on another, long outerwear.

Because of this, the head of the colony regime, Samid Gafarov, attacked Bakhtiyar, grabbed him by the chest and slammed him against the wall, then punched him again. "Gafarov had previously committed illegal actions against Bakhtiyar and other prisoners," said A. Abdulla.

She noted that in orrectional facility No. 17, newly arrived prisoners are placed for 1 month in the so-called "quarantine."

"During this period, the packages brought to the prisoners - food, things - are often not given to them, and are put up for sale in the prison store. What does it mean to covet sugar, tea, prisoners?" Abdulla noted.

She said that in connection with the fact that the head of the regime hit her husband, she complained to the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan. However, the Penitentiary Service replied that Gafarov "did not hit" her husband.

It was not possible to get comments from the Penitentiary Service.

Muslim Unity Movement activist Bakhtiyar Babashev was arrested in March 2023 on charges of drug trafficking. In October of the same year, the court sentenced him to 4 years of imprisonment. Human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner.